Page 162 of Wrecked
He pulled a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of red wine.
She sat at the kitchen counter, pointed to the whiskey. “A shot.”
He poured one for her and double for himself. He was too keyed up. Talking about Josie, talking about what happened, set him on edge and broke his heart. He stood on the other side of the counter.
She tossed back the shot. “Whoa, that burns.”
He tossed back his.
“Tell me about your wife.”
“She was my first love, the first woman I’d been with. We were young, naïve. We met our freshman year of college and got married our junior year. Our families thought it was fast, but we were in love.”
She nodded.
“Senior year, we found out we were pregnant.” The memory made him smile. “I couldn’t wait to be a dad and Josie was so excited.”
“Wow,” Addison whispered.
“Her parents and younger siblings lived in the Middle East. Her dad was an ambassador, so they lived in the diplomat’s residence. Just before graduation, Josie was finishing her first trimester and she was anxious to see them and tell them our baby news. She was going to be a primary school teacher, so her schedule was split between working as a teacher’s aide and taking a couple of classes. I’d double majored and had a full schedule. We’d planned to go over together, but she changed her mind and flew over a few days ahead of me. She wanted me to go with her, but I would’ve missed too many finals, so I told her I’d fly out after my last one.”
He paused, the emotion constricting his throat. “The night she arrived, terrorists attacked the residence.” The loss had him tearing up, and he lowered his head so Addison wouldn’t see.
She slid out of the chair, walked around the kitchen counter, and hugged him. “I’m sorry.”
He fought against the emotion, but the pain was still so raw all these years later.
“She was killed along with everyone else,” he murmured. “I blame myself for not going with her.”
Addison pulled back, her eyes wide with concern. “But you would have died, too.”
“I know, but I have this fucked-up version that I could have saved them, or at least her and our unborn child.” After a beat, he said, “I was gutted. I was in a dark place for a long time.”
“How did you pull yourself out?”
“About six months after Josie died, I lost it. I don’t remember what triggered it, but Prescott was there for me. We lived together for a while and I leaned on him pretty hard.”
He raked his hand through his hair. Talking about Josie was more difficult that he thought it would be. “I was wrecked, broken, barely functioning. Prescott introduced me to a man named Philip Skye who set me on this track.”
Her mouth dropped open. “No way.”
“Your dad saved my life.”
22
IN LOVE
Addison stared at him in disbelief. “Did you say my dad?”
The fact that Hawk had been married and was going to be a father was shocking enough, but… her dad had helped him? How did that happen?
“I’m the one who suggested he go by an initial,” Hawk said. “Using his real name put him at risk, plus he was concerned you and your sister were too vulnerable. We went through the alphabet, got to the end, and Z stuck.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You wanna sit?”
“Uh-huh.” She heard him. She could see him. But she just stood there staring up at him.
